Page 26 of Love Rescheduled

Before I could respond, Mr. Spotlight barged in, carrying a plate full of food. “Hi, honey …”

Alec chuckled.

I glowered at Alec and then at Josh. “Excuse me, I’m in the middle of something.” I nodded toward Lord Mac.

Josh didn’t take the hint and walked toward the bed. “I noticed you didn’t eat lunch, so I made your favorite egg, tomato, and avocado sandwich on whole-grain bread. Orange slices on the side.”

That sounded good, but he didn’t need to know that. “Thank you. You can put it on the nightstand.”

Josh, being Josh, didn’t listen to me. Instead, he hopped up on my bed, plate in hand, barely keeping the oranges from falling off the plate onto my white comforter. Yes, I had a lot of white in my house. It was easier to see if things were clean that way. Am I a clean freak? I think we all know the answer to that.

I grabbed the plate before he could spill it on my bed.

Josh zeroed in on Alec, his eyes narrowing. “Are you having a date in here?”

“Not that it’s any of your business, but no. Alec is my life coach.”

Josh’s posture immediately relaxed. “Life coach. I like it. Nice to meet you, man.” Josh scooted closer to me. Thankfully, he was fully dressed in jeans and an Eagles T-shirt. Sadly, he smelled too good.

“The pleasure is all mine.” Alec could hardly contain his toothy grin.

“You can go now,” I complained to Josh.

“I think I better stay. I probably need to defend myself.”

Alec laughed but quickly stopped when I shot him a scathing glare. He was supposed to be on my side. I was the one paying him, after all.

“Alec is not my therapist, and this isn’t couples therapy.”

“Maybe we should give that a try.” Josh nudged me.

I set the plate on my lap and groaned. How had this become my life?

“I’ll take that as you’re thinking about it.” Josh laughed. “So, what does a life coach do?” Josh asked Alec.

“Uh, excuse me, I’m paying for this session.”

“I’m going to give you this one on the house.” Alec seemed overjoyed to do so before giving his attention to Josh. “I help people personally and professionally by encouraging them and counseling them through challenges to achieve their goals.” He took that right off his website.

“Any profession?” Josh asked.

“Absolutely.”

“Great, now that we cleared that up. You should go.”

“I have a few more questions.” Josh wasn’t deterred. “Besides, you should eat. I know you’ve probably been too stressed to the last few days,” he said so sweetly. “I apologize for that.”

He knew me so well that I hated and loved him for it. He always liked to take care of me, and me him. It wasn’t helping the situation at all. That little nugget Alec threw at me about my insecurities basically sabotaging our relationship didn’t make me feel all warm and fuzzy either.

“Eat.” Josh smiled. “Alec and I will get acquainted while you do.”

I noticed Alec scribbling down a lot of notes. None of which better include things like, This chick is crazy if she doesn’t take this man back. It’s not like I didn’t know that I was a little quirky, perhaps neurotic.

Josh grabbed Lord Mac and placed him on his lap. “When she gets overwhelmed, her appetite is the first to go,” he informed Alec with the utmost concern in his freaking sexy, gravelly voice.

I was overwhelmed, thanks to him. And he was right. I had hardly eaten in the last few days. The sandwich looked good, and my stomach had been growling. I picked up half the sandwich Josh had cut diagonally, just how I like it. Might as well eat as my life coach and ex were getting chummy, talking about their favorite sports teams. Josh was a college football fan and loved Tennessee. Alec was more of a professional sports guy and loved the Celtics and Red Sox. It made sense, given he lived in Boston. One of my Boston clients had recommended him to me. Alec had helped him up his writing game.

I took a bite of the sandwich and savored it. For whatever reason, when Josh made them, they always tasted better. He used to say it was because he made them with love. He wasn’t supposed to still love me. I thought I had fixed that. Alec was right. I tried to control that particular outcome. Obviously, I’d failed. But that didn’t mean we should be together. I knew I would hold Josh back from his dreams, and eventually he would come to resent me. Or he would live his dreams and they would crush me. It was a no-win situation, then and now.

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